I don’t cook grains very often in our house.  We don’t do much pasteurized cheese anymore, either. But when Ula pointed to some rice lasagna noodles in the grocery store a few weeks ago and asked me to tell her what they were and how they were used, I couldn’t resist.  I mean, there was all that tomato sauce I canned up last summer that I haven’t finished using up…and all those fresh herbs right outside my door…And, if I’m going to indulge, I’m going to go over the top, of course (hence the 2 pounds of ground beef, etc).

I’ll admit that I made a mistake cooking this for them.  Because I keep hearing requests for repeat performances (of course, I PERSONALLY had NO DESIRE whatsoever to have another pan of comforting lasagna…).  But then, of course, there’s this BLOG, and, you know, I needed to make sure I had the recipe right if I was going to post it, so we made it again the other day just to be sure… If any of you report any problems with this recipe, Ula and Saoirse might insist that we re-test and edit once more, because, well, they’re very conscientious about recipe testing and editing (unless I’m cooking kidneys).

Serves 12 in theory, but 4-6 in reality

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 pounds ground beef

1 quart spaghetti sauce

15 ounces ricotta cheese (Or 30 ounces works too, if you wanna go for a 7 pound lasagne.  Just double the eggs.)

1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano leaves

1 egg

1 pound whole milk mozzarella cheese (sliced thin) (2 pounds would work, too, if you wanted to go for an 8 pound lasagna…but who’s counting?)

12 uncooked rice lasagna noodles (regular wheat lasagna noodles will work, too)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Heat the olive oil in a skillet.  Brown the ground beef.  Don’t drain it.  Add the spaghetti sauce.  Stir well and bring it to a simmer.      In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, chives, oregano and the egg(s).  Mix well.  Spread 1 1/2 cups of the meat sauce on the bottom of an ungreased 13×9 baking dish or lasagna pan.  Top with one third of the noodles, followed by one third of the ricotta mixture, followed by one third of the mozzarella.  Repeat layers; then top with the remaining meat sauce and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.  Bake for one hour, and let stand 30 minutes before serving.